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Attorney Larry Friedman and his client, Pilar Sanders, address the media at the Collin County courthouse on Friday.

Updated at 5:35 p.m. Deion Sanders called his estranged wife’s allegations in court about steroid use a lie.

“The thing that bothers me is how someone can lie so effortlessly,” the athlete said after court recessed for the day.

Sanders said he doesn’t drink, smoke or do drugs. “I don’t think I’ve ever been accused in my life of something that ignorant.”

He said it was crazy for her to bring out the allegations for the first time in front of a jury when they haven’t been brought up at all in all his years playing professional football and professional baseball. Nor have they been brought up during any of the previous court hearings.

“It shocks me,” said Sanders, who filed for divorce in December 2011.

Updated at 3:35 p.m.Deion Sanders is back in court as the trial in his contentious divorce continues to determine who will have primary custody of the couple’s three children.

In response to allegations from his estranged wife about steroid use, he posted this afternoon on Twitter:

@dallasnews My body has been consistent please look closely at the accuser. Truth

He also posted: “A Lie dont care who tells it. The Truth will prevail. Truth.”

Pilar Sanders’ attorneys had tried to question her about the allegations, but the judge ruled that the testimony would not be allowed.

Pilar Sanders is still on the stand this afternoon, being questioned by attorney Rick Robertson about her career as a model, actress and “fitness maven,” as listed on her Twitter account. He’s also asking how much money she’s earned over the years. He’s trying to give the jury some idea about how she might make a living once the divorce is finalized.

Robertson has gone through her listings on IMBd for television and movies as well as photos and information that she’s posted on her website, her Facebook pages and her Twitter account.

Deion Sanders

Pilar Sanders

Updated at 12:50 p.m. Pilar Sanders was on the stand and started to testify about Deion Sanders taking steroids. The former professional athlete stood abruptly and left the courtroom as his attorneys objected. The jury was removed from the courtroom so the judge could hear arguments.

Attorney Rick Robertson said that Deion Sanders has never used steroids. Attorney Luke Gunnstaks told the judge that the issue was relevant because the controlled substances were in a closet that was accessible to the children.

Judge Ray Wheless ruled that the testimony was too prejudicial and banned the jury from hearing any evidence on the matter.

Original: The fourth day of testimony in the jury trial to determine custody issues for the children involved in the contentious divorce of Deion and Pilar Sanders has centered on a dispute over a therapist’s testimony.

Jennifer Leister was appointed by the court last year at the parents’ agreement to counsel the couple’s three children. Leister, a licensed professional therapist, stopped seeing the children in November after her bill hadn’t been paid.

Attorneys for Pilar Sanders asked numerous questions about who brought the children to therapy, whether her bill had been paid, who missed more appointments and what the children told her about certain issues.

At nearly every question, attorneys for Deion Sanders objected on the basis of relevance, heresay and assuming facts not in evidence. They also objected because Leister is a therapist and not an evaluator, saying she could not give any opinions or testify about anything the children told her.

Attorney Luke Gunnstaks argued that what she had to say was relevant to the custody issues in this case. He also noted that her testimony was allowed in a January hearing in this case and should be allowed in front of the jury.

Attorney Rick Robertson argued that she couldn’t talk about anything that the children told her in confidence.

Leister said that the parents had signed a release under HIPPA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, allowing her to release health information.

The jury was taken out, and attorneys argued about what Leister could say. Judge Ray Wheless ruled that Leister could answer questions only about the parents’ level of cooperation and a report she made to Child Protective Services about an incident of physical abuse by Deion Sanders against one of the children. CPS took no action and eventually closed the case.

Leister testified that she received a written note from Deion Sanders during a court break revoking the HIPPA release. But she said the court’s authority overrules HIPPA if she is ordered to answer, she said.

She ended up telling jurors that Pilar Sanders was cooperative with every session. Leister also said that Pilar Sanders was habitually late to the 50-minute sessions, in two cases about 40 minutes late. Leister also testified that Deion Sanders brought the children to every appointment that he made with Leister.

Gunnstaks also called to the stand Deion Sanders’ girlfriend, Tracey Edmonds, who lives in California, and Billy Jones, who works for Deion Sanders maintaining the Prosper estate, helping to drive the children to activities and other duties. Neither were at the courthouse, though Gunnstaks said they had been subpoenaed.

Pilar Sanders is now back on the stand, testifiying about her duties as a mom and her activities with the children. She’s testified about going to school trips, doing laundry, cooking for the children, taking them to the museum, the dentist, music lessons and movies, among other activities.

Updated at 1:10 p.m. Pilar Sanders testified that since the divorce filing, her estranged husband had threatened her, saying, “They would destroy me.” When asked who “they” referred to, she testified that it was people that he had to get him out of situations. She testified about multiple vehicles driving slowly by her house in Celina and following her when she was out. She testified about not feeling safe and that she had concerns about Deion Sanders using his fame and influence to get his way.

When asked why she didn’t attend her sons’ sporting events last year, she testified that she purposely stayed away to avoid his supporters and ”to keep the peace and safety of my family.”

She and her attorneys attempted to discuss her reasons for staying in the car during her sons’ practices and games in 2011 before the divorce was filed. Pilar Sanders started to talk about naked photos, but Deion Sanders erupted with “you’re lying” at the same time his attorneys objected to the testimony. Jurors heard nothing further on the matter.

Pilar Sanders’ attorneys requested that the judge ask Deion Sanders to put away his cell phone and not Tweet in court, but the judge denied that request.

Updated at 11:35 a.m. Pilar Sanders testified that her estranged husband’s comments about her in the media have been hurtful.

She said an article posted online in December at www.rumorfix.com posted an exclusive with Deion Sanders that quoted him as saying, “She’s the ultimate gold digger.” She said she was concerned because the children are Internet savvy and have a multitude of ways to find those media reports.

“I was very very hurt because my children see their father completely demeaning and destroying my character,” Pilar Sanders said through tears.

She testified that Deion Sanders has a Twitter account with hundreds of thousands of followers and that he uses that account to disparage her. She said he’s accused her of cheating on him during the marriage on Twitter.

PIlar Sanders testified that she has never cheated on her estranged husband.

Her attorney, Luke Gunnstaks, is taking her through portions of testimony from earlier in the week so that she can share her side of what happened. In most cases, the statements about what happened contradict each other.

Pilar Sanders said she knew nothing about any issues with Deion Sanders’ family during his Hall of Fame dinner. She also testified that his divorce from his first wife was very contentious.

She also testified that she was the mother behind the Truth organization and the umbrella organization Prime Time Association. She said she did all of the work to establish the nonprofit and make it what it is today.

At one point this morning, Deion Sanders posted this on Twitter: “She is on the stand we will cross her n catch her in a multitude of lies and she will fake cry and act. It will be good trust me.”

Updated at 10:05 a.m. Pilar Sanders is back on the stand, describing problems with the children’s possession schedule over the holidays and the police incident that resulted from that.

The court had granted her custody for the first part of the vacation, and she was scheduled to hand the children over to Deion Sanders on Dec. 30. But the children wanted to see their father on Christmas day, and she agreed to let them go to open their presents. While the two younger children returned to her house later that day, the oldest child did not. She testified that she called attorneys to get him returned.

The 12-year-old was dropped off on Dec. 29, but he was furious about staying and immediately wanted to return to his father’s house, Pilar Sanders testified.

She said his siblings and her mother were trying to help her calm him down, but he got into a physical altercation with his mother. That’s when he ran out the door to a nearby paint store.

An employee of the Sherwin Williams store testified on Wednesday that the boy ran into the store crying and asking to use the phone. The employee testified that the boy told him that his mother tried to choke him and pushed him against a wall. The employee testified that he called police. The boy left the store with his father. No charges were filed.

Pilar Sanders testified that she took video of her children that explains what happened, but Deion Sanders’ attorneys have objected to the video. The court will view the video outside the jury’s presence at a later break and decide whether the jury can see it.

Original: The jury trial resumes to determine custody issues for the three children of former Dallas Cowboy and Hall of Famer Deion Sanders and estranged wife Pilar Sanders.

On the stand is Lisa Thomas, the piano teacher for the Sanders children. While the youngest child continues her lessons, the two boys haven’t had any lessons since last fall, she testified.

Thomas told jurors about hearing Deion Sanders threaten her outside the courtroom before her testimony at a hearing last May. His attorney, Rick Robertson, asked whether she recalled several witnesses who testified after her that contradicted that any threat occurred. Deion Sanders denied making any threat at that hearing. His attorney also testified that no threat occurred.

Thomas testified that she asked the Collin County sheriff’s office for protection at the courthouse prior to today’s testimony.

Under questioning from Robertson, she testified that Deion Sanders notified her after that May hearing that he wasn’t going to pay for any more lessons from her. She testified that the children’s music education was important and that the Sanders children were very talented. She said she didn’t know that the couple’s oldest boy got a keyboard for Christmas and wants to take lessons from someone else.

Jurors must decide during this trial in Collin County which parent should have the right to determine their three children’s primary residence and set restrictions on where they can move.